


Darken the Sky, Light up the Moon

by MagicaLyss



Series: Bluer Than The Sky (Whumptober 2019) [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Brain Damage, Dead May Parker (Spider-Man), Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Medical Inaccuracies, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Temporary Amnesia, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Traumatic Brain Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 07:23:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20888324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicaLyss/pseuds/MagicaLyss
Summary: Day Three - Delirium“He is sick.” Tony runs a hand through his disheveled hair. “He might- They’re not even sure if he’ll wake up or not. All they know is if he didn’t have his healing, he would’ve died.”“But he does have his healing, Tony. He’s been through a lot; this isn’t what’s going to take him down.”“A bullet went into his fucking skull,” Tony spits, more angrily than he should. He knows Pepper’s just trying to help, but she doesn’t get it. She didn’t watch the bullet. “A few centimeters over and he would’ve died. Not just should’ve. This isn’t- this isn’t just a few broken bones or a stab wound. This is- He has a traumatic brain injury, Pepper. This isn’t-”





	Darken the Sky, Light up the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> May's Dead prior to the story, takes place after Endgame, but non-endgame compliant. Traumatic Brain Injury. This isn't medically accurate, I tried to research it as much as I could, but I've never experienced it or know anyone who has, so it's hard to describe. Plus, Peter doesn't really fit the average person.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tony demands, glaring at the doctor.  
  


Banner sighs, scrubbing a hand harshly over his tired face. “I’m sorry, Tony. Cho’s done every test in the book and outside the books too. We’ve tried but there’s not much we can tell you. We’ve never had to deal with this before.”  
  


“You’ve never had to deal with a brain injury before?” the billionaire says, voice raising to nearly a shout.  
  


“For one, I’m not that kind of doctor in the first place, but I meant that we haven’t dealt with a brain injury on an enhanced individual before. Peter’s… capabilities are different to anything we’ve worked with before and we haven’t had the chance to properly test everything out yet. I’m not saying we couldn’t, but I just-”  
  


“What do you know?” Tony asks, taking deep breaths to try to stop the panic that’s bubbling inside him. The last thing he needs right now is a panic attack. “All you’re giving me is ifs and maybes. I need something solid.”  
  


Banner moves anxiously to the sink in the room and peels off his gloves. He starts washing his green-tinged hands and sighs again.  
  


“Honestly?” he says. “Not much. Not enough, at least. We’ve seen the Baby Monitor Protocol; we know how it happened. We know he has a brain injury. We have the CT scan and the MRI and everything else to base our assumptions off of. If he were a regular individual, he would’ve been dead already, Tony, so it’s hard to say when he’ll be better.”  
  


“Fuck,” Tony breathes unintelligently in response. His phone rings in his pocket, declining yet another call from Pepper.  
  


Bruce leaves, probably to go check on Peter, who’s still too unstable for any visitors, with a quick suggestion to call Pepper and let her know what’s going on and maybe try to get in touch with Doctor Strange. Cho’s a real doctor, one of the best, but having a sorcerer might give them a little bit more luck with Peter’s state.  
  


“Hey, Pep,” Tony breathes, finding a chair in the waiting room area. “It’s not looking great.”  
  


“What’s going on?” Pepper asks. Tony has trouble thinking he’s the only one who cares about Peter, but Pepper loves the kid to the moon and back, as well.  
  


“TBI,” Tony replies. “He got hurt real bad on patrol and I guess… They’ve done scans, but they don’t know what’s going to happen. They don’t- They can’t even guess.”  
  


Pepper sighs heavily. Morgan’s asking questions and making a lot of noise in the background, but Pepper says she just thinks Peter’s sick.  
  


“He is sick.” Tony runs a hand through his disheveled hair. “He might- They’re not even sure if he’ll wake up or not. All they know is if he didn’t have his healing, he would’ve died.”  
  


“But he _does _have his healing, Tony. He’s been through a lot; this isn’t what’s going to take him down.”  
  


“A bullet went into his fucking skull,” Tony spits, more angrily than he should. He knows Pepper’s just trying to help, but she doesn’t get it. She didn’t watch the bullet. “A few centimeters over and he _would’ve _died. Not just should’ve. This isn’t- this isn’t just a few broken bones or a stab wound. This is- He has a traumatic brain injury, Pepper. This isn’t-”  
  


Pepper shushes Morgan gently. “Tony, I know, take a deep breath. I know this is scary, but Peter’s a strong kid-”  
  


“_Kid_, Pepper, key word there. He’s a kid. A child. And he’s- they had to take a bullet out of his fucking head-”  
  


“I know, I know, honey. I’m sorry.”  
  


Tony huffs, sliding a hand over his face, scared to find tears all down his cheeks, he hadn’t even realized he was crying.  
  


“Take care of Morgan for me?”  
  


“Of course, Tony. Update us when you can.”  
  


  
*

Tony’s finally been allowed to sit at Peter’s hospital bedside. It’s not much better than sitting in the waiting room on an uncomfortable chair – Friday already has a note reminding him to change them into something comfier.  
  


Peter looks young lying in the white sheets, thick bandages wrapped around his forehead. Apparently the external healing is already almost complete, but they’re not even sure he’s capable of the internal healing. And if he is, the process of getting there, might take years of hard work. For the TBI patients Cho’s helped before, sometimes they never get past it.  
  


Research was pretty easy, there’s studies and personal stories all over the internet that Tony’s had a fun (read: awful) time reading through. It scares him that those are some of the things his kid might have to deal with depending on the extent of his healing factor.  
  


Right now, Peter’s on some heavy sedatives and even heavier pain medication. Banner’s busy synthesizing some more that’ll hopefully help him a little bit more than the one’s he’s on now. It doesn’t help as much as it should, but it’s hard to find the balance between an overdose and enough for Peter’s high metabolism.  
  


Peter’s hand is cold in his. That’s one of the only things Tony can think about.  
  


(He can’t think about Peter’s ghostly pale face and his unresponsive corpse-like body. How he’s almost always a restless ball of energy, even in his sleep, but now he’s still. He can’t think about that. He’s too dehydrated to start crying again.)  
  


His hand helps warm Peter’s up and he can almost pretend Peter’s just fine. Almost.  
  


  
*

Peter wakes up coughing. It startles Tony awake from where’d been dozing in the chair beside the bed.  
  


Tony doesn’t have to think about how Peter’s finally, _finally_, awake, he just hurries over to the little sink in the room and gets the kid a glass of water to drink.  
  


“Take it slow, kid.”  
  


Peter sips at the water, movements uncoordinated and clumsy. He nearly spills it down the front of his hospital gown but catches himself. Peter’s always been a bit of a klutz, but never this bad. He’s always had his spidey-powers on his side.  
  


When Peter’s done, Tony fusses over him, taking the cup and fluffing the pillows, and checking all of Peter’s IVs.  
  


Peter’s watching him, pupils dilated more than usual and glazed too. Tony suspects it’s the drugs, but then Peter speaks up.  
  


“Ben?” he slurs. “What- What happened? I… the last thing I remember is… is May’s terrible meatloaf…”  
  


Tony flinches hard. That was at least eight years ago, with the five-year gap. Only at least three years ago for Peter, but that’s still a lot of time for him to forget. Peter doesn’t even know Tony; he thinks Tony is _Ben_.  
  


It’s an impulse decision, it really is, but the last thing Tony wants to do is scare Peter more. So he brushes back Peter’s curls and throws on the gentlest smile he can manage.  
  


“We just got into an accident, Pete,” Tony says, trying his hardest to make sure his voice doesn’t crack. “You’ll be back to normal in no time.”  
  


Peter nods a few times, blinking too slowly like he isn’t grasping anything. He probably isn’t.  
  


“You okay?” Tony asks quietly, gently cupping Peter’s soft cheek.  
  


The kid tips his head to the side, glazed eyes struggling to find Tony’s.  
  


“Ben?” he says slowly, like he can’t get control of his tongue. “What- What happened? The last thing- I can’t remember-”  
  


Tony’s heart breaks just a little bit more. “Just an accident, Pete. You’ll be back on your feet before you know it.”  
  


“Okay,” Peter murmurs. His eyes are closed now, leaning into Tony’s touch. “Loud.”  
  


If it weren’t for Peter’s sensory overloads and Tony’s experience dealing with them, Tony probably wouldn’t have understood.  
  


“Hey, Fri? Could you enable Goodnight Moon Protocol,” Tony murmurs. Immediately, all the lights are dimmed, and external noises are dimmed to nothing. The equipment by Peter’s bed are all quieted, but they can’t be totally silenced.  
  


“What…” Peter starts saying but trails off before he can finish.  
  


“What was that, Pete?” Tony asks.  
  


Peter jolts a little bit, dull eyes struggling to focus again. “What- Ben?”  
  


“Yeah, Pete?”  
  


“Where- Where are we? What… Happened? What happened?”  
  


“Just an accident. You’ll be all better in no time.”  
  


  
*

  
“You can’t go in there, Tony,” Banner says, blocking the doorway.  
  


Tony had only been gone for ten minutes, about an hour after Peter had fallen back to sleep. Enough time to have a breakdown and make himself a coffee.  
  


“Why not?” Tony demands, hands clenching around his mug. He sets it down on the windowsill, worried his shaking hands will drop it. And it’s his World’s Best Dad Mug with the boss crossed out and Boss written in Peter’s messy, scrawling handwriting with a stupid little smiley face. And then the Boss is crossed out and Dad is written underneath with another little smile.  
  


“He had a seizure while you were gone,” the doctor replies bluntly. “We’re still stabilizing him.”  
  


Tony’s heart drops. “He- fuck, Bruce. You should’ve seen him. He thought I was his Uncle Ben and he couldn’t- He could only remember things Pre-Spiderbite. I just- I played along. I didn’t want to scare him, but that’s eight years he’s missing. He’s not going to-”  
  


“For all we know, this could be his brain’s way of healing. Amnesia and delirium are both pretty normal with brain injuries. It could be a good sign that he’s having those symptoms. And that he was awake so soon.”  
  


Tony covers his face with his hands, taking a few steadying breaths to try to chase off his tears.  
  


“Be honest with me,” Tony says, keeping his face hidden. “Is he going to be okay? I know you don’t know, but give me your best guess here, doc.”  
  


Bruce sighs. “Cho thinks he’ll be okay, but that the symptoms will last either a long time or forever. I… I’ve had a little bit more experience in Peter’s biological compositions with his metabolism and healing factor while synthesizing his medications, so I might have a little more knowledge than her in that area, but I’d have the best guess as her. I think Peter’s going to pull through. I think he’ll be back on his feet and that this amnesia he’s dealing with is only temporary. I think he’ll be okay, but like Cho said, his symptoms might last a _really_ long time, Tony. The forgetfulness, the confusion, the delirium. Who knows.”  
  


Tony presses his fists into his eyes, shoulders hunching over himself as he continues to struggle to bring his walls up and push his emotions down.  
  


“Doctor Strange is going to be here in a few days’ time, so hopefully he might have a better idea of how Peter’s doing, but for now, he needs you,” Bruce continues. “Whether it’s as Tony or as Uncle Ben or as whoever he needs you to be. I know it’s asking a lot, but I think right now, Peter just needs someone to answer his questions, even if he’s asking the same ones over and over again.”  
  


“I have Morgan,” Tony says, trying to laugh. It comes out forced and hoarse and all wrong. “She’s constantly asking me the same qusestions. I think I’ll have enough patience for Peter.”  
  


The patience isn’t really the issue, it’s whether or not Tony can endure Peter being so lost without breaking in front of him.  
  


  
*

Peter is unresponsive once he settled after the seizure. His eyes are open, but they’re hazy and dull like he isn’t taking anything in. He’s awake but not really. He might as well be asleep.  
  


Tony takes his hand anyway, sitting in the chair beside his bed. He has a feeling that this chair will become more of a home to him than the cabin at this rate.  
  


“Hey, kiddo. I don’t know how much you’re listening, but if you are, I just wanted you to know I’m here. I’m sorry I left earlier. Just had to get myself a cup of coffee,” Tony says, voice too loud in the silent room except for the steady noises of the machines at Peter’s side. “I… I heard you had a pretty nasty seizure, bud. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, at least for support. I, uh, I’m here now, though. I’m going to keep you safe, okay?”  
  


Peter just blinks slowly at the ceiling in response, fingers twitching in Tony’s strong grip.  
  


It’s weird to know that Peter’s there and awake and alive, but not acting at all like himself. No excited or nervous rambling, no constantly jittery movement, no bright smiles or loud laughter. It’s like he’s not even Peter anymore.  
  


It reminds Tony a little too much of the months after the Snap was reversed. Everything was different, Peter was dealing with the fact that he’d died, Tony nearly died, and May had died during those five years in a car accident. Peter had struggled a lot with his mental health throughout those first few months before he allowed Tony, his friends, and the other remaining Avengers to help him flourish once again.  
  


“I know this is scary, bud, but I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’ll keep you safe. I love you.”  
  


It’s not the first time he’s said that he’s loved Peter. After the snap was reversed, it was common for them to say I love you, all the time. _Goodmorning, I love you. Goodnight, I __love you. Goodbye, I love you_. It’s less common now, just once a day more or less because it doesn’t need to be verbalized to be known.  
  


“I love you, kiddo. You’ll pull through.”  
  


  
*

Morgan desperately wants to visit her big brother, promising everything to be allowed to see him. But Tony’s not sure it’s a good idea. It’ll be too hard for Peter’s brain to understand since he can’t remember anything post-spiderbite. And also because Morgan’s not going to understand that Peter’s not going to know who she is.  
  


Tony doesn’t want to put either of his kids through that, so he settles for letting Morgan send them a Get Well Soon card. Drawn in every crayon colour with pictures of sunshine and superheroes.  
  


“Who’s this from?” Peter asks, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Visually, he looks one hundred percent again. He looks healthy and strong, but it’s obvious that he’s not when he asks questions like that. “Who’s Morgan?”  
  


Tony tries to offer a smile, running a hand through Peter’s curls. “She’s family. Distant.”  
  


Surprisingly, Peter just nods and sets the card back on his nightstand, picking up the box of chocolates from Pepper. He pops a caramel one into his mouth with a smile.  
  


“When’s May gonna be here?”  
  


Tony flinches, the loss still sitting heavily on his chest.  
  


“She’s, uh, she’s busy, kid. Sorry. She’s not going to be visiting for a little while. That okay?”  
  


A sad expression crosses Peter’s face, a little confused and dazed like always, but at least he’s present. He looks pained all of a sudden.  
  


“Is Skip visiting?” he asks quietly.  
  


“Do you want him to?” Tony asks. He doesn’t know who Skip is, but if Peter wants to see him, he’d do anything to track him down and get him here.  
  


Peter frowns, shifting uncomfortably. “No, thanks… If that’s okay? I’d rather it just be us and May whenever she can get here.”  
  


“That’s fine, kid. You don’t need to have any visitors if you don’t want any.”  
  


The Get Well Card and the box of chocolates on the nightstand from Pepper and Morgan, the balloons tied to the end of the bed from Happy and Rhodey, the vase of flowers from the Avengers. That’ll have to do.  
  


  
*

Peter wakes up gasping, tears racing down his pale cheeks, limbs flailing under the hospital sheets, tangled in them.  
  


“Hey, hey, hey, kiddo. It’s okay. You’re in the hospital. You’re okay,” Tony says quickly, hands catching Peter by the elbows to still his movements. Instantly, Peter falls like a marionette into Tony’s chest, heaving for breath.  
  


“I- I dreamt I… I thought I died,” Peter cries, burying his face in Tony’s shirt.  
  


If Tony thought he had any fragments of heart left after the past few days, he might’ve felt them break. Peter _did _die. Nearly a year ago. And yet, he doesn’t remember it. And Tony won’t remind him. He couldn’t do that to his kid. Not after everything.  
  


There’s a part of amnesia for a superhero that almost seems appealing. Peter can’t remember the majority of grief that’s come out of his life. He can’t remember his uncle’s death, his own death, Tony’s near death, May’s death, the whole ordeal that went down just last summer in Europe. He can’t remember Toomes or Thanos or even Germany.  
  


And maybe it’s better this way. Maybe it’s better that Peter can’t remember all of the shit he’s been through.  
  


On the other hand, though, that means Peter can’t remember any of the good that came out of it either. His little sister, Morgan. Tony adopting Peter officially. Pepper becoming his stepmother. Peter’s acceptance into his dream University. The amazing things he’s done as Spider-Man.  
  


All of that is gone too.  
  


Tony just holds Peter tight and hopes that whatever happens, he’ll be allowed to be at Peter’s side through it.  
  


  
*

“Peter’s strong enough to do as he pleases,” Bruce says. “I’d suggest daily checkups with me or Cho, but if he wants to move throughout the tower, he can. I’m sure he’s dying to get out of that bed.”  
  


“It’s only been a week, Banner. Don’t you think this is a little soon?” Eight days since Peter got hurt, seven since he woke up. Tony’s barely slept.  
  


Bruce shrugs. “He’s pretty much healed externally. There’s not even a scar. But you’ve seen it. He’s getting irritable and annoyed at being kept in there when he thinks he feels fine.”  
  


“The symptoms are still pretty strong,” Cho adds in, flipping to a page on her clipboard. “I mean, delirium, long-term and short-term memory loss, confusion, irritability, difficulty concentrating, increased sensitivity to light and sound, some slurred speech or slow speech. He’s mentioned some blurry vision issues, ringing in his ears, frequent pain, insomnia, and he’s had three seizures.”  
  


“We’re pretty positive he won’t develop anymore symptoms as he begins to heal, but there’s not much we can do to help him other than keeping him comfortable,” Bruce says with another shrug. “We’ve tried predicting how long all of this will last and we’re hoping it’ll all go away pretty quickly, especially with him dreaming about the time period he’s missing, but we aren’t too sure.”  
  


Tony gives himself thirty seconds of panic, lets it all wash over him for half a minute, before he’s carefully tucking all his emotions away once again.  
  


“Doctor Strange is coming by today. We’ll see what he says, and we’ll work from there.”  
  


Tony didn’t want to say it, but he didn’t want Peter to leave the hospital room because he’s not sure he could explain why Peter’s in the tower without breaking the kid’s brain more.  
  


  
*

Turns out, Doctor Strange didn’t have much more to offer.  
  


Full of Ifs and Maybes.  
  


Which wasn’t good enough when he’s talking about Tony’s kid. He needs certainty before he makes any decisions.  
  


He can’t risk losing his kid when he only just got him back.  
  


He can’t.  
  


  
*

Hospitals are weird and warp time.  
  


Tony never has any idea what time of the day, day of the week, week of the month, unless he looks at his watch. He wouldn’t know. The blinds to the window are closed all the time due to Peter’s light sensitivity he’s dealing with. Tony rarely ever leaves Peter’s side, not wanting him to feel alone and small in the unfamiliar hospital room by himself.  
  


The docs bring him and Peter food and coffee whenever they ask for it, always prepared to be a helping hand, and Tony’s become all too familiar with the added couch in the hospital room for naps whenever he gets too tired.  
  


Ever schedule he has is thrown off the charts, but he can’t find it in himself to care. It’s all for Peter. Always. Even if Peter still thinks he’s Ben.  
  


Pepper and Morgan facetime him whenever they both can, whenever Peter’s sleeping and Morgan’s home. A rare occurrence, especially because of Peter’s insomnia and nightmares.  
  


He feels more alone than he should.  
  


He feels like a fraud, pretending to be Peter’s late Uncle.  
  


Lying to the kid about why May can’t visit, playing along with who the Get Well Soon gifts are from, pretending to be someone he’s not.  
  


It’s all wrong and Tony spends about an hour every few days crying in the shower so Peter will never know about the emotional toll this has taken on him.  
  


  
*

“Can I tell you a secret?” Peter says, out of the blue on one of his Lesser days. The days where he’s less receptive and less aware. His eyes are trained on the TV, but he isn’t taking any of it in.  
  


Tony squeezes Peter’s hand. “Course, bud.”  
  


“I heard you talking the other day,” Peter says, sniffling. He’s gotten a little bit better with his short-term memory. He remembers where he is when he wakes up and he’ll remember why he thinks he’s there, and he can hold conversations for a few minutes now.  
  


“Hm?”  
  


“You were talking to… Morgan and Pepper?” Peter says, confusion and concentration filling his face. “Your wife and child? You’re not Ben, are you? I’m just- my head’s just fucked up isn’t it?”  
  


Tony sighs. “No, I’m not Ben. I’m Tony. You, um, there’s a lot you don’t remember.”  
  


“I dreamt he died last night.” Peter swallows thickly, watery eyes refusing to look at Tony. He pulls his hand away. “Is it true? Did that happen?”  
  


“I’m sorry, kid.”  
  


“Could you- I just- I don’t know what to do.” Peter sits up suddenly, nearly hitting his head against Tony’s in his haste to get up. “Can we go outside? Am I allowed to leave? I need some air.”  
  


Tony takes Peter out to the field behind the tower, a ring of trees separating the grassy area from the rest of the city. Peter’s changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, and he sits down on the grass, staring blankly at the trees swaying gently in the breeze.  
  


Tony keeps his distance, unsure of where they stand. He knew this would happen eventually; he just couldn’t ever anticipate how Peter would feel about it.  
  


“Is May gone too?” Peter asks, voice breaking.  
  


“I’m sorry, kid.”  
  


It’s silent as they both watch the steady traffic through the trees.  
  


  
*

It’s been three days since Peter found out Tony was lying. It wasn’t this instant falling into place of all his memories, but he’s been able to see through the cracks sometimes. If he sees something he knows, he’s reminded of some things he’s forgotten.  
  


His short-term memory is definitely on the way to mended. His pain levels are still pretty high, Banner has him on some pretty strong pain meds that don’t make him as drowsy, pill form as well instead of the IV he normally has. Some of his other symptoms have started fading away, but he’s still a little bit more sensitive to light and sound, but they’ve been able to open the blinds for a few hours in the evening without Peter getting a headache. And his concentration is still much lower than it used to be.  
  


Cho says that it’s miraculous that he’s been able to heal as much as he has in only a few short weeks. She says it’s still possible for his symptoms to get worse again, but that he should be okay to be discharged from the hospital by the end of the week. She also says Peter now needs to be incredibly careful not to have any more head injuries as they could be life-threatening, even if it’s just a concussion.  
  


That thought terrifies Tony because concussions were something Peter got _regularly _while out on patrol.  
  


“It’ll be fine,” Peter says, looking more focused than he has since before The Accident. (Tony hates calling it The Accident for one reason: it wasn’t an accident. Tony’s already found the fucker and he’s locked him away for the rest of his life.)  
  


“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to tell you? Not vice versa?” Tony replies, rubbing his thumb over Peter’s knuckles.  
  


The kid grins in response. “Maybe but when have we ever followed the norms, right?”  
  


Tony stares at Peter for a long few seconds, pretending to be exasperated. (In reality, he’s mapping the planes of Peter’s face in his head, making a little note of the thin white scar by Peter’s temple. The little freckles along Peter’s cheekbone that he’s never been close enough to see. The little bits of acne Peter always complained about because his healing never worked on healing his acne; a reminder of the kid Peter is. Too young to be hospitalized for a bullet wound to the skull.)  
  


“Am I Spider-Man?” Peter asks, out of the blue and oblivious to Tony’s gaze. “I kind of thought I was, but now I’m not so sure.”  
  


“You are.”  
  


Peter doesn’t seem surprised by the answer. “It wasn’t a car crash, was it?”  
  


Tony doesn’t answer, but Peter seems to understand.  
  


Before either of them can say anything, Morgan is running full speed into the room and diving onto Peter’s hospital bed with a loud shriek.  
  


“Morgan, inside voice. Petey’s tired and his head hurts,” Pepper chastises gently as she walks in after their daughter. It’s a weird way to put Peter’s real symptoms.  
  


“Petey!” Morgan shouts, hands grabbing onto the front of Peter’s nerdy science t-shirt Tony brought him. She starts rambling about what happened with their imaginary game since Peter was last home. Peter looks lost and confused, but nods along and asks questions as appropriate times, anyways. Forever the people pleaser he is.  
  


“How are you doing, honey?” Pepper asks, carefully tipping Peter’s head up and tutting when she sees the little scar. “Everything okay?”  
  


“Yep, feeling much, much better,” Peter says. It’s the truth but it’s not really the _whole _truth. “I’m still trying to remember a lot of things, but Tony’s been a lot of help.”  
  


“It’s still weird to hear you calling him Tony,” Pepper says, letting out a little laugh.  
  


The room falls silent as suddenly Peter’s eyes widen and he reflexively pushes Morgan off his lap, glazed eyes unseeing.

  
To Morgan and Pepper, this is scary, Tony can understand that, but it’s normal now. He’s gotten used to it. It just means Peter’s been triggered by something to remember.  
  


“Petey just needed to check out for a minute,” Tony says, gently shifting Morgan up into Pepper’s arms. He moves diligently to push Peter back onto the bed, lying him down and tucking the blankets around him. It hasn’t been easy, but Peter’s getting better.  
  


“Is he okay?” Morgan asks quietly. Her eyes are wide and filling with tears as she stares down at her brother.  
  


“Yeah, sweetie. He’s fine. Just taking a little nap. He’ll be back with us before you know it.”  
  


And he is. Peter checks in again after only a few minutes, eyes wide and blinking quickly to focus himself again. He looks vaguely confused as Morgan tucks herself into his side, but he slips his hand into Tony’s, a tired smile on his face.  
  


“You ’kay, Mister Stark?”  
  


Tony smiles. “Yeah, Bambi, I’m right here.”  
  


They still have a long way to go, but Peter was lucky. Without his enhanced healing, Tony doesn’t even want to think about what could’ve happened. But Peter’s okay and Tony will help him along, every step of the way. Family.   
  


"Love you," Peter slurs. already drifting off.   
  


"Love you too." 

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on Tumblr: @/Lyssismagical   
or on Wattpad: @/Magicalyss


End file.
